A Cult French Skincare Brand

If you’re going to get one thing from the brand, let it be this – the P50 Lotion that exfoliates and revives your skin in an instant. Facial in a bottle, they call it!

Biologique Recherche

A french Skincare Brand with a Cult Following

The Olsen Twins, Madonna, Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Conelly.. just a few of the Hollywood stars who swear by this skincare brand. And no, they’re not ambassadors or endorsers of Biologique Recherche. This brand has been on my radar ever since I read about their “miracle” LotionP50 from UK bloggers Caroline Hirons (dubbed an ultimate skincare guru), Ruth Crilly, etc.

I even asked my husband to get one or two Lotion P50 bottles for me in France if he can find it. So yes, I literally jumped from my seat when Marj of Travelling Heels asked if I wanted to attend the launch of the brand. I took a while to reply to her because I may or may not have busted out a bottle of Bordeaux and some Roquefort to celebrate the news first. Ha ha!

The cult brand (that has been developing these magical potions for 35 years now!) has partnered with Chi Spa Shangri-La, where the products will be exclusively available. The owners of the brand flew in for this launch and I even got to personally chat with Dr. Philippe Allouche, son of the creators of the brand – YvanAllouche, a biochemist, skin researcher and product formulator and JosetteAllouche, physiotherapist and esthetician – who now heads Biologique.

I was seated beside him during dinner so I seized the opportunity to ask him everything I could possibly think of about skincare and their products. Dr. Allouche shared that he has gone back and forth the Philippines countless times to do scuba-diving. Palawan is his fortress. He has also gone on medical missions with his team in the country. And get this, it was in Palawan (maybe Amanpulo?) where he met Tom Cruise.

Photo by Ryan Ong

When I got to the launch, Chi Spa was transformed into a Parisian sidewalk with street artists sketching live portraits. Mine was done by a talented artist who goes by Simkin de Pio.

Doesn’t the typography of the brand remind you of floppy disks? I like it!

The Biologique Recherche Team – Dr. Philippe Allouche, Head of Creation, Research and Innovation (also son of the owner), Monique Terol, International Trainor and Mr. Pierre-Louise Delapalme, CEO.

Mademoiselle Monique was there with Dr. Allouche to personally conduct one-on-one skin analysis for the guests.

Things I Learned

From Dr. Philippe Allouche

1. The brain and the skin share a unique bond – they actually developed from the same layer of the embryo (when we were still a few weeks old inside our mommas’ wombs). This essentially means that our mental health affects our skin condition. You can smother your skin with the best skincare products but if you’re anxious, depressed, stressed, etc – your skin will be feeling and manifesting it too. But at the same time, when you’re happy or ecstatic, your skin feels that as well. Now you know why your cheeks flush when you’re kilig or your face turns red when you’re embarrassed.

2. “It’s hard to find a Filipina with thick skin!”. Dr. Allouche has concluded that we Filipinas like to exfoliate or ‘peel’ our skin too often. He likens it to the roof of a house – do you scrape the shingles or build it well so it’s strong and able to resist leaks or getting torn apart when typhoons come crashing? As with the skin, the key is to “rebuild” your epidermis so it doesn’t become overly thin and in the process overly sensitive as well. While it’s good to exfoliate once in a while, he says that moisturizing and hydrating to ‘rebuild‘ (this is definitely the word of the night!) the skin’s natural balance is extremely important, too.

3. Everyone has sensitive skin, they are just sensitive in different ways. Sometimes, weather has to do with it. Sometimes, skincare ingredients are the culprits. Sometimes, it depends on the person’s mood or well-being. The point is, we have experienced (or will soon experience) sensitivities in our skin – the key is learning how to rebuild and rebalance your skin to avoid these sensitivities.

4. “Is the P50 Lotion for everyone, then? Especially since you said Filipinas already have thin skin, is it still suitable for everyone?” The original P50 that my father developed was the most potent, derma-grade formulation. However, I’ve redeveloped and reformulated it years ago by integrating ingredients that help fight the new challenges the skin is facing, such as increases of interior and external stresses. The new P50 is packed with even more antioxidants and the exfoliation is milder as I added polyhydroxy acids to the solution.

Mr. Pierre-Louis Delapalme, CEO of the brand, talks about how they formulate their products – how they are still not mass produced to keep with their high standards of quality. A bottle of the P50 Lotion takes SIX FULL DAYSto fully ‘cook’.

After the presentation and dinner, we were treated to a legit Biologique Recherche facial. Results below are fan-frikkin-out-of-this-world-tastic.

The skincare products are fragrance-free so they smell quite.. raw and unadulterated. Gucci Westman (makeup artist) describes the Lotion P50 scent like that of sour breast milk.

The serums come in this glass bottle and need to be pumped out with a syringe.

The Sorcery

Sorry to ruin this with my selfies but GUYS…. I’m officially part of the cult!!!!! Look at my skin…GOOD GOSH! Can it be that infant-like everyday?!

Where to Get

You can find all Biologique Recherche products in Chi Spa,Shangri-La. I believe you don’t have to avail of any spa treatments in order to buy the products but you can consult which ones are the best for your skin type. Also, all Chi Spa facialists have been personally trained and educated by the Biologique Recherche team and by Mademoiselle Monique herself (for 3 months as per my facialist whom I interviewed). The Lotion P50 is around Php4,000 which I swear is worth all your hard-earned money.

Have you tried anything from Biologique Recherche? Please do share your thoughts/experiences below!

P50 is the bomb.com I’m obsessed with this lotion. I haven’t tried anything else from the brand but I’m pretty sure I will in the future if p50 is anything to go by. You look radiant after your facial, must have been a fab event!!
thebeautybloss.com

How do you even pronounce the brand name?! Hahaha. It’s so hard to keep up with my skin.
Some days my skin’s great, some days it’s irritated like eff. The only solutions I have are the Avène Thermal Spring Water (which I tried because of you!) and the Cleanance Gel. Absolutely going to ask my dad to grab me a bottle of the Lotion P50 now!

Been stalking their website for a while, trying to find where to buy here in Manila haha. I’m so happy they’re finally here. Got a bottle yesterday! Last 2 of the big 250ml one and there’s a waitlist now on the 150ml. Next shipment coming in next week. Used it last night and I couldn’t believe how smooth and clear my skin was this morning. The hype is real!

I try not to inhale too much or else I might reach for chicharon haha. I’m still using it diluted with an iced cotton pad as instructed to me at Chi Spa to ease my skin into it. So my nose will need to adjust again when I start using with a dry cotton as I enter into my 2nd week. Oh and the price! I compared and it is almost double compared to the US and EU!!! Lucky if your hubby gets to buy for you at their Champs Elysees place. Is the facial worth it for P7500?